


In the End

by JeanjacketCarf



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018) - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A lot of attention is paid to Scott's hair, Attempt at Humor, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gen, No Smut, No Snap, Not-Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) post credit scene compliant, Post-Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), belated Christmas fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 12:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17386316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanjacketCarf/pseuds/JeanjacketCarf
Summary: Scott Lang is amazed that he has a family now, a big one tooEveryone heads to Maggie and Paxton's house for a Christmas party. Scott dresses up for the occasion, Hope messes up his hair, Hank and Janet try their best to kill him from embarrassment.It's all good and nothing hurts





	In the End

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my super late Christmas fic that I wrote on a plane and my first foray into writing for Marvel but I watched Antman and the Wasp and I just had to  
> This either takes place before the mid-credits scene aka the snap or ignores it- you decide!  
> thanks for coming

In the end, Scott didn’t have much to complain about. He ended up with a bigger family than he could have ever hoped for, let alone deserved. Hope and Cassie, Hank and Janet, Maggie and Paxton, Luis and the guys. It was crazy because for a long time all he had was himself.

He was 8 when his parents broke up. The yelling and the fighting and the breaking glass before had been bad, but things got worse once his dad moved out. After that, there was only who was the selfish dick and who was the lying bitch and the tense trade-offs every other week that made him feel like he was crossing the DMZ. All “don’t turn into your father on me” and “you’ve got too much of your mother in you”. Pretty soon he was coming up with every excuse he could to stay away because whatever house he was sleeping at neither felt like home.

When Maggie had sent him the divorce papers without another word, of course, he’d been heartbroken, but he also couldn’t help feeling like he deserved it. His old boss deserved what he got too but maybe Scott shouldn’t have been the one to do it, not with a wife and kid and stable job. He’d thrown it all away to play Robin Hood, why shouldn’t she get to move on with her life? His main concern was that Cassie’s childhood would turn out just like his own. And why shouldn’t it? Wasn’t that the thing, you always turned into your dad no matter how hard you tried to fight it?

But he’d met Luis and they’d become friends in a way he hadn’t known you could be. Supportive and warm and ride-or-die. Luis did more for him than anyone else and welcomed him into a brotherhood that made him feel so less alone.

But then Maggie had forgiven him. And her new husband was so supportive and watching from the doorway as Cassie walked away smiling felt good even when he was under house arrest. He could tell himself that he hadn’t totally screwed up her life.

And Hope and Hank forgave him too even though he had definitely screwed up their lives like the selfish dick he was. (Janet hadn’t really been around, and she was officially dead, so it wasn’t exactly like she could forgive him, but she seemed to like him and that was kind of the greatest.)

And it didn’t make sense and probably most people would think it was weird, but they sort of all fell in together because for some unbelievable reason they actually liked Scott.

Cassie complained that all her friends whose parents were divorced got to have two Christmases and two birthdays, but he could tell that she really liked having just one with everyone she loved. It felt so less hollow than the holidays he’d had growing up. Which was why he tended to go all out for them.

While he wasn’t exactly known for being a snappy dresser, he had about two suits. One, a tame grey one from Men’s Warehouse, he wore reluctantly to client meetings and would probably have to wear to trial if his future turned out anything like his past. The second, he was trying on in the mirror. His Christmas tux, even though Luis insisted it wasn’t actually a tuxedo just some fancy blazer and matching slacks.

Mean mugging to himself like Derek Zoolander, he slathered a little product in his hair to get those perfect stick up curls at the front, posing in the green and red number with an atrocious pattern of candy canes. Cassie was going to love it.

There was a knock on his door and Scott dropped the pose before he could be caught looking stupid. But Luis just spoke through the door.

“Hey, man. I’ll meet you there, okay?”

Scott checked his watch, frowning.

“But I thought we were going over together. And we still have like two hours.”

“Uh, well I think you might be busy.”

“What-,” Scott started but the door swung open and Hope was standing there, hip propped against the wall, and the words died in his throat.

Luis waved from down the hall, smiling sheepishly.

“Like I said, buddy looks like you’ll be busy. I’m gonna give you guys some space.”

Scott could only nod along. Luis ducked out of sight and Scott swallowed.

“Hey.”

Hope gave him a knowing smile.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugged.

“Oh, I guess I just wanted to see you.”

She was wearing her suit, her Wasp suit, not a Christmas suit, the one that clung to her like a second skin and left little to the imagination. And there was something in her eyes, a hunger.

In the last two years, Hope had changed. When they had first met she was businesslike and uncompromising, whip-smart and a vicious fighter. She’d also been angry and closed off. It wasn’t right to say that she wasn’t those things anymore but the flavor of it had changed. Since reconciling with her father and becoming a fugitive from the law, some of the polish had rubbed off. She’d grown out her hair and stopped wearing pantsuits. Now she slouched around in fashionable cardigans and dealt with underground tech dealers and hid lock picks in her mouth. There was a feral quality to her. Scott had decided he liked any version of Hope she was willing to give him, but he had to admit this new Hope did things to him. Wild things.

“Uh, I thought you were meeting us over there. With your parents.” His mouth had gone dry.

Hope sidled into the room and closed the door behind her with a backward kick.

“I didn’t exactly want my parents to be around for this.”

Scott’s eyebrows jumped up, but he found himself smiling.

“Oh boy,” he said like a cartoon character. 

She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t make me regret this, Scott.” Then, she stepped across the room into his waiting arms, planted both hands on either side of his face and pulled him down into a heated kiss.

 

By the time they were done, they were probably going to be a half hour late for the party and he didn’t have time to restyle his hair after the shower. Hope ran her fingers through where it flopped down messily on his forehead.

“Is this how it was in prison? I can’t imagine you had steady access to hair gel there.”

He hummed, running his hand up her forearm, liking the feel of their skin together.

“Actually, I grew it out. Into a mullet. It looked really good. You know, business in the front, party in the back. Just like me.”

“What part of you is the business?”

He touched his chin.

“Obviously, this pretty face. It’s very trustworthy, that’s why I get the big fish.”

“And your ass is the party?”

Scott laughed, jumping to his feet and pulling her off the bed with him. 

“Hey, Ms. Van Dyne I think that’s sexual harassment!”

She stood up on her tippy toes and pecked him on the lips.

“I wasn’t placing any judgment on the statement. I was just wondering if that was what you were trying to imply.”

“That’s always what I’m trying to imply.” He kissed her back and pulled away. “Come on, stop distracting me. We have a party to get to.”

Eventually, she agreed and shrunk down to fit in his breast pocket, which was pretty cute, since he was still under surveillance from the FBI and she was still a wanted criminal.

“You okay in there?” He whispered as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him. She gave him a tiny thumbs up. It was about as cold out as December in California ever got, so a little brisk but not worth bundling up for. He didn’t even bother turning on the heat in his new-to-him sedan. 

By habit, he rolled down the windows as he drove, savoring the night air and what it meant: freedom. There was a hard thump against his chest. He looked down into his pocket to see Hope waving her arms around.

“Oh, sorry.” He quickly rolled the windows up.

She flew out of his pocket and landed on his dashboard, kicking her feet.

“What’s up, Tinkerbell?”

It was a little hard to see but he was pretty sure she flipped him off.

They pulled in behind Luis’ truck and Scott got out, doing his best to fix his hair in the side mirror. He could tell without even looking that Hope was laughing at him.

“Hey, I gotta look good for my girl.”

He walked into the sound of “Jingle Bells” playing too loud and nearly had his legs knocked out from under him when Cassie pounced on him.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, Peanut!” He scooped her up in his arms, glad he could still do it for a little while longer. Which was when Maggie and Paxton engulfed him in a hug too. Luis, who’d clearly already had too much eggnog, set down his mug and rushed across the room to join in. Only Hank and Janet were left standing around awkwardly. They weren’t big huggers.

“Hey, hey, guys,” Scott said stumbling back. “Don’t crush Hope.”

Right on cue, she fluttered out of his pocket and grew to full size, earning a squeal of delight from Cassie. She got a chorus of greetings and another group hug, which Scott could tell she still thought was kind of weird. She wasn’t used to a big family either.

Paxton went to get them each a mug of eggnog and Scott went over to try and shake Hank and Janet’s hands or something. 

“Hey, guys! I’m glad you could make it.” As usual, he was probably smiling too much.

“We didn’t have much else to do,” the crotchety old man told him slapping him on the arm. His eyes traced up Scott’s outfit. “Tell me you didn’t have sex with my daughter wearing that.”

Scott flushed like a teenager.

“Uh, no, what… we didn’t… we don’t,” he managed to stammer out.

Janet placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile full of humor.

“Relax, son. He’s only joking.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “You can wear whatever you want.”

Scott’s jaw dropped and then Hank and Janet just stood there laughing at him. Luckily, Hope chose that moment to pull him away, linking their arms at the elbow.

“Sorry, I have to borrow Scott. Thanks.”

“Are your parents trying to kill me?” He whispered to her, his face still hot.

Hope laughed.

“Probably. You’re forgetting my parents are science hippies, they were very open about that sort of thing. And Mom was in your head, remember.”

“Oh god!” Scott buried his head in his hands.

Hope reached up and played with his hair. It felt like she was trying to braid it.

“Also, they’re evil. Did you know that? They’re evil.”

Scott laughed despite himself.

“They’re not evil. They’re just crazy libertarians.”

“I think Mom’s more of an anarchist these days. That’s why she likes you. You don’t understand laws.”

“That’s because most of the time they’re really stupid,” he grumbled.

“Exactly,” she pursed her lips to kiss him and he leaned into it, catching it on the corner of his eye.

“Hey, guys!” Luis had an eggnog mustache and Cassie on his back. “Cass wants to watch one of those scary movies with the stop-motion reindeer, do you wanna join us?”

“We would love to,” Hope said without missing a beat as she reached to rescue Cassie before she got dropped on the floor.

“Definitely, Peanut!” Scott chimed in.

“Ooh, is that Rudolph?” Paxton yelled and raced into the living room to set up the TV. 

The five of them piled onto the couch until Scott ended up being kicked onto the floor while Hank, Janet, and Maggie stayed in the other room being adults. After about twenty minutes, Cassie wiggled down and settled cross-legged on Scott’s back as he lay on his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows to watch. 

Twenty minutes later he was snoring face down into the carpet. Cassie giggled and tickled the bottom of his feet. He rocked over, dumping her on the floor, and kept snoring.

Scott woke up fully when the movie was over, and they were ready to exchange presents. Sitting in a circle over paper plates of turkey and mashed potatoes while 

Cassie tore open her presents with gusto, he couldn’t help but smile.

No, he didn’t have much to complain about, in the end.


End file.
